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KAIST–Princeton University Officially Launch “Net-Zero Korea” to Address Climate Crisis
KAIST (President Kwang Hyung Lee) announced on the 27th of August that a research team led by Professor Hae-Won Jeon of the Graduate School of Green Growth and Sustainable Development has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment at Princeton University in the United States to promote joint research on carbon neutrality, officially launching the Net-Zero Korea (NZK) project. This project was unveiled at the World Climate Industry EXPO (WCE) held in BEXCO, Busan, and will begin with seed funding from Google.
The NZK project aims, in the short term, to accelerate the transition of Korea’s energy and industrial sectors toward carbon neutrality, and in the mid- to long term, to strengthen Korea’s energy system modeling capabilities for policy formulation and implementation. Energy system modeling plays a critical role in studying the transition to clean energy and carbon neutrality.
In particular, this research plans to apply Princeton’s leading modeling methodologies from the Net-Zero America project—published in 2021 and widely recognized—to the Korean context by integrating them with KAIST’s integrated assessment modeling research.
The Net-Zero Korea project will be supported by funding from Google, KAIST, and Princeton University. This research is characterized by its detailed analysis of a wide range of factors, from regional land-use changes to job creation, and by concretely visualizing the resulting transformations in energy and industrial systems. It will also be conducted through an international collaborative network while reflecting Korea’s specific conditions. In particular, KAIST will develop an optimization-based open-source energy and industrial system model that integrates the effects of international trade, thereby contributing to global academia and policy research.
Therefore, the core of this modeling research is to apply to Korea the precise analysis and realistic approach that drew attention in Net-Zero America. Through this, it will be possible to visualize changes in the energy and industrial systems at high spatial, temporal, sectoral, and technological resolution, and to comprehensively analyze various factors such as regional land-use changes, capital investment requirements, job creation, and health impacts from air pollution. This will provide stakeholders with practical and reliable information.
In addition, the KAIST research team will collaborate with Princeton researchers, who have conducted national-scale decarbonization modeling studies with major research institutions in Australia, Brazil, China, India, Poland, and others, leveraging a global research network for joint studies.
Building on its experience in developing globally recognized integrated assessment models (IAM) tailored to Korea, KAIST will lead a new initiative to integrate international trade impacts into optimization-based open-source energy and industrial system models. This effort seeks to overcome the limitations of existing national energy modeling by reflecting the particularity of Korea, where trade plays a vital role across the economy.
Professor Wei Peng, Princeton’s principal investigator, said: “Through collaboration with KAIST’s world-class experts in integrated assessment modeling, we will be able to build new research that combines the strengths of macro-energy models and integrated assessment models, thereby developing capabilities applicable to many countries where trade plays a crucial role in the economy, such as Korea.”
Antonia Gawel, Director of Partnerships at Google, stated: “We are very pleased to support this meaningful research being conducted by KAIST and Princeton University in Korea. It will greatly help Google achieve our goal of net-zero emissions across our supply chain by 2030.”
Professor Haewon McJeon of KAIST commented: “Through joint research with Princeton University, which has been leading net-zero studies, we expect to provide science-based evidence to support Korea’s achievement of carbon neutrality and sustainable energy.”
President Kwang Hyung Lee of KAIST remarked: “It is deeply meaningful that KAIST, as Korea’s representative research institution, joins hands with Princeton University, a leading institution in the United States, to jointly build a science-based policy support system for responding to the climate crisis. This collaboration will contribute not only to achieving carbon neutrality in Korean society but also to the global response to the climate crisis.”
2025.08.28 View 2415 -
KAIST Succeeds in Real-Time Carbon Dioxide Monitoring Without Batteries or External Power
< (From left) Master's Student Gyurim Jang, Professor Kyeongha Kwon >
KAIST (President Kwang Hyung Lee) announced on June 9th that a research team led by Professor Kyeongha Kwon from the School of Electrical Engineering, in a joint study with Professor Hanjun Ryu's team at Chung-Ang University, has developed a self-powered wireless carbon dioxide (CO2) monitoring system. This innovative system harvests fine vibrational energy from its surroundings to periodically measure CO2 concentrations.
This breakthrough addresses a critical need in environmental monitoring: accurately understanding "how much" CO2 is being emitted to combat climate change and global warming. While CO2 monitoring technology is key to this, existing systems largely rely on batteries or wired power system, imposing limitations on installation and maintenance. The KAIST team tackled this by creating a self-powered wireless system that operates without external power.
The core of this new system is an "Inertia-driven Triboelectric Nanogenerator (TENG)" that converts vibrations (with amplitudes ranging from 20-4000 ㎛ and frequencies from 0-300 Hz) generated by industrial equipment or pipelines into electricity. This enables periodic CO2 concentration measurements and wireless transmission without the need for batteries.
< Figure 1. Concept and configuration of self-powered wireless CO2 monitoring system using fine vibration harvesting (a) System block diagram (b) Photo of fabricated system prototype >
The research team successfully amplified fine vibrations and induced resonance by combining spring-attached 4-stack TENGs. They achieved stable power production of 0.5 mW under conditions of 13 Hz and 0.56 g acceleration. The generated power was then used to operate a CO2 sensor and a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) system-on-a-chip (SoC).
Professor Kyeongha Kwon emphasized, "For efficient environmental monitoring, a system that can operate continuously without power limitations is essential." She explained, "In this research, we implemented a self-powered system that can periodically measure and wirelessly transmit CO2 concentrations based on the energy generated from an inertia-driven TENG." She added, "This technology can serve as a foundational technology for future self-powered environmental monitoring platforms integrating various sensors."
< Figure 2. TENG energy harvesting-based wireless CO2 sensing system operation results (c) Experimental setup (d) Measured CO2 concentration results powered by TENG and conventional DC power source >
This research was published on June 1st in the internationally renowned academic journal `Nano Energy (IF 16.8)`. Gyurim Jang, a master's student at KAIST, and Daniel Manaye Tiruneh, a master's student at Chung-Ang University, are the co-first authors of the paper.*Paper Title: Highly compact inertia-driven triboelectric nanogenerator for self-powered wireless CO2 monitoring via fine-vibration harvesting*DOI: 10.1016/j.nanoen.2025.110872
This research was supported by the Saudi Aramco-KAIST CO2 Management Center.
2025.06.09 View 52789 -
KAIST Awarded Presidential Commendation for Contributions in Software Industry
- At the “25th Software Industry Day” celebration held in the afternoon on Monday, December 2nd, 2024 at Yangjae L Tower in Seoul
- KAIST was awarded the “Presidential Commendation” for its contributions for the advancement of the Software Industry in the Group Category
- Korea’s first AI master’s and doctoral degree program opened at KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI
- Focus on training non-major developers through SW Officer Training Academy "Jungle", Machine Learning Engineer Bootcamp, etc., talents who can integrate development and collaboration, and advanced talents in the latest AI technologies.
- Professor Minjoon Seo of KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI received Prime Minister’s Commendation for his contributions for the advancement of the software industry.
< Photo 1. Professor Kyung-soo Kim, the Senior Vice President for Planning and Budget (second from the left) and the Manager of Planning Team, Mr. Sunghoon Jung, stand at the stage after receiving the Presidential Commendation as KAIST was selected as one of the groups that contributed to the advancement of the software industry at the "25th Software Industry Day" celebration. >
“KAIST has been leading the way in achieving the grand goal of fostering 1 million AI talents in Korea by services that pan from providing various educational opportunities, from developing the capabilities of experts with no computer science specialty to fostering advanced professionals. I would like to thank all members of KAIST community who worked hard to achieve the great feat of receiving the Presidential Commendations.” (KAIST President Kwang Hyung Lee)
KAIST (President Kwang Hyung Lee) announced on December 3rd that it was selected as a group that contributed to the advancement of the software industry at the “2024 Software Industry Day” celebration held at the Yangjae El Tower in Seoul on the 2nd of December and received a presidential commendation.
The “Software Industry Day”, hosted by the Ministry of Science and ICT and organized by the National IT Industry Promotion Agency and the Korea Software Industry Association, is an event designed to promote the status of software industry workers in Korea and to honor their achievements.
Every year, those who have made significant contributions to policy development, human resource development, and export growth for industry revitalization are selected and awarded the ‘Software Industry Development Contribution Award.’
KAIST was recognized for its contribution to developing a demand-based, industrial field-centric curriculum and fostering non-major developers and convergence talents with the goal of expanding software value and fostering excellent human resources.
< Photo 2. Senior Vice President for Planning and Budget Kyung-soo Kim receiving the commendation as the representative of KAIST >
Specifically, it first opened the SW Officer Training Academy "Jungle" to foster convergent program developers equipped with the abilities to handle both the computer coding and human interactions for collaborations. This is a non-degree program that provides intensive study and assignments for 5 months for graduates and intellectuals without prior knowledge of computer science.
KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI opened and operated Korea’s first master's and doctoral degree program in the field of artificial intelligence. In addition, it planned a “Machine Learning Engineers’ Boot Camp” and conducted lectures and practical training for a total of 16 weeks on the latest AI technologies such as deep learning basics and large language models. It aims to strengthen the practical capabilities of start-up companies while lowering the threshold for companies to introduce AI technology.
Also, KAIST was selected to participate in the 1st and 2nd stages of the Software-centered University Project and has been taking part in the project since 2016. Through this, it was highly evaluated for promoting curriculum based on latest technology, an autonomous system where students directly select integrated education, and expansion of internships.
< Photo 3. Professor Minjoon Seo of Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI, who received the Prime Minister's Commendation for his contribution to the advancement of the software industry on the same day >
At the awards ceremony that day, Professor Minjoon Seo of KAIST Kim Jaechul Graduate School of AI also received the Prime Minister's Commendation for his contribution to the advancement of the software industry. Professor Seo was recognized for his leading research achievements in the fields of AI and natural language processing by publishing 28 papers in top international AI conferences over the past four years.
At the same time, he was noted for his contributions to enhancing the originality and innovation of language model research, such as △knowledge encoding, △knowledge access and utilization, and △high-dimensional inference performance, and for demonstrating leadership in the international academic community.
President Kwang Hyung Lee of KAIST stated, “Our university will continue to do its best to foster software talents with global competitiveness through continuous development of cutting-edge curriculum and innovative degree systems.”
2024.12.03 View 11408 -
KAIST begins full-scale cooperation with Taiwan’s Formosa Group
< (From left) Senior Vice President for Planning and Budget Kyung-Soo Kim, and Professor Minee Choi of the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences of KAIST along with Chairman of Formosa Group Sandy Wang and KAIST President Kwang-Hyung Lee, and Dean Daesoo Kim of KAIST College of Life Science and Bioengineering >
KAIST is pursuing cooperation in the fields of advanced biotechnology and eco-friendly energy with Formosa Plastics Group, one of Taiwan's three largest companies.
To this end, Chairman Sandy Wang, a member of Formosa Group's standing committee and leader of the group's bio and eco-friendly energy sector, will visit KAIST on the 13th of this month. This is the first time that the owner of Formosa Group has made an official visit to KAIST.
Cooperation between the two institutions began last March when our university signed a memorandum of understanding on comprehensive exchange and cooperation with Ming Chi University of Science and Technology (明志科技大學), Chang Gung University(長庚大學), and Chang Gung Memorial Hospital(長庚記念醫院), three of many institutions established and supported by Formosa Group.
Based on this, Chairman Sandy Wang, who visits our university to promote more exchanges and cooperation, talked about ‘the education of children and corporate social return and practice of his father, Chairman Yung-Ching Wang,’ through a special lecture for the school leadership as a part of the Monthly Lecture on KAIST’s Leadership Innovation Day.
She then visited KAIST's research and engineering facilities related to Taiwan's future industries, such as advanced biotechnology and eco-friendly energy, and discussed global industry-academic cooperation plans. In the future, the two organizations plan to appoint adjunct professors and promote practical global cooperation, including joint student guidance and research cooperation. We plan to pursue effective mid- to long-term cooperation, such as conducting battery application research with the KAIST Next-Generation ESS Research Center and opening a graduate program specialized in stem cell and gene editing technology in connection with Chang Gung University and Chang Gung Memorial Hospital. The newly established cooperative relationship will also promote Formosa Group's investment and cooperation with KAIST's outstanding venture companies related to bio and eco-friendly energy to lay the foundation for innovative industrial cooperation between Taiwan and Korea.
President Kwang-Hyung Lee said, “The Formosa Group has a global network, so we regard it to be a key partner that will position KAIST’s bio and engineering technology in the global stages.” He also said, “With Chairman Sandy Wang’s visit, Taiwan is emerging as a global economic powerhouse,” and added, “We expect to continue our close cooperative relationship with the company.”
Formosa Group is a company founded by the late Chairman Yung-Ching Wang, the father of Chairman Sandy Wang. As the world's No. 1 plastic PVC producer, it is leading the core industries of Taiwan's economy, including semiconductors, steel, heavy industry, bio, and batteries. Chairman Yung-Ching Wang was respected by the Taiwanese people by setting an example of returning his wealth to society under the belief that the companies and assets he built ‘belonged to the people.’ Chang Gung University, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, and Ming Chi University of Technology, which are pursuing cooperation with our university, were also established as part of the social contribution promoted by Chairman Yung-Ching Wang and are receiving financial support from Formosa Group.
2024.05.09 View 11733 -
Prof. Austin Givens of KAIST Language Center receives Ministerial Commendation
< Professor Austin Givens posing with the Letter of Commendation by the Miniser Hwang-Keun Chung of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs at the Language Center >
Professor Austin Givens of our Language Center received a Ministerial Commendation from the Korean Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs dated December 21st, 2022 for his contribution for the development of the Korean Foodservices Industry through his active and prominent media presence.
Professor Austin Givens has been working with the KAIST Language Center since 2017, and has shown his passion for Korean food through his YouTube channel "Austin! Eating What is Given", introducing not only the food but also the culture of Korea and KAIST to his international viewers through the videos he shares of his candid reviews of the food and restaurants around town on the popular video streaming platform.
< Thumbnail introductions of Professor Givens' videos on his YouTube channel, "Austin! Eating What is Given" >
- KAIST Language Center
2023.02.09 View 12685 -
Game Design Guide Book for Middle-Aged and Older Adult Players Helps Rewrite Gaming Culture
The online book ‘Game Design Guide for Adults in Their 50s and Older’ helps to increase accessibility for adult gamers
A KAIST multi-disciplinary research team published a game guide to respond to the new demands of senior gamers and expand the gaming market. The guide will be helpful for designing interfaces fit for senior groups as a way to minimize the cognitive burdens related to aging. It also helps readers understand older users’ cognitive abilities and socioemotional characteristics.
“This guide analyzed the game experience of players in their 50s and older and converted it into a game design element that can be easily referred to by game developers and designers,” explained Professor Young Im Do from the Graduate School of Culture Technology who led the research.
The gaming industry is paying attention to the emerging trend of ‘active aging’ and senior gamers. According to the National Purchase Diary Panel Inc., game play time increased significantly in the 45-64 age group compared to other age groups during the pandemic. Despite the growing number of senior gamers, it is still difficult for older novice players to start video games because most commercial games focus on younger players. For example, older players can feel frustrated if the game requires fast reflexes and accurate timing. Font sizes and objects that are too small as well as interfaces that are too complicated can be challenging for senior gamers.
The research team presents how to handle these difficulties in game design considering the visual-motor coordination of people in age groups ranging from their 20s to 80s. It also proposes various game elements such as audio-visual elements, cognitive and motor elements, game rules, stories and characters, social aspects, in-app purchases, and advertisements for senior groups. The guide also proposes a game service model and introduces examples of game prototypes that apply supportive technology.
For this guide, the researchers operated the “International Game Living Lab”, which is an open space for creating novel and innovative solutions by converging IT technology into daily life. In the lab, ordinary citizens, research institutes, companies, and local communities formed a cooperative network and actively participated in experiments, education, and discussions for finding solutions over three years.
Researchers in multi-disciplinary fields, including computer science, psychology, game design, and gerontechnology, covered various methodologies to understand the game experience of adults in their 50s and older. In order to profile players of this age group, three different approaches were performed: visual-motor coordination experiments, an EEG (Electroencephalogram) test, and a gameplay workshop. Then, they converted the results into practical knowledge that can be used in the gaming industry.
Professor Kyung Myun Lee from the School of Digital Humanities and Computational Social Sciences at KAIST, Professor Byungjoo Shin from Yonsei University, CEO Junyoung Shin of CareU, and CEO Minseok Doh of Heartverse participated in this online book which is available to the public at https://wikidocs.net/book/7356.
2022.06.10 View 9144 -
KAIST-SM Entertainment Joint Research for Metaverse
“Culture scientist will play a role in the future of the entertainment industry”
KAIST President Kwang Hyung Lee and SM Entertainment Founder and Chief Executive Producer Soo-Man Lee signed an MOU on joint research of the metaverse on June 23 at the Daejeon campus. SM Entertainment is the powerhouse of K-pop and Lee is a pioneering figure who helped Korean pop culture emerge into a global phenomenon.
The KAIST-SM metaverse partnership will bring out new culture technology that will lead the virtual entertainment industry by creating more dynamic and vivid digital technologies. KAIST will utilize its AI, robot, and network technologies, while SM will provide its content production expertise for this metaverse research.
President Lee said, “SM artists have mesmerized global audiences and opened new markets for K-Pop. Combining the creativity and cultural imagination of SM with technologies from KAIST, together we will make significant contributions to the advancement of virtual reality as well as the global entertainment industry.”
The Graduate School of Culture Technology has been engaging in a variety of creative projects incorporating science and technology for decades and will now actively participate in this metaverse project with SM.
CEP Lee explained, “The power of celebrities and avatars will rule the future entertainment industry. SM will make a leap forward to be a ‘first mover’ in the digital entertainment industry with this partnership with KAIST. This partnership will shape the new digital future of the entertainment industry boosted by cutting-edge technologies.”
CEP Lee also delivered a special lecture for the KAIST community via Zoom. Saying that producers in the future will be ‘culture scientists’, he stressed the importance of technology converging with culture.
“The key factor for K-pop’s success lies in the impressive technology of Korea. SM places a high priority on developing cultural technology and creating new artists and products combining this technology,” added Lee, citing the hologram contents of Beyond Live concerts and the new 4+4 girl group composed of four girls and four avatars called ‘Aespa.’
2021.06.25 View 10724 -
Highly Efficient and Stable Double Layer Solar Cell Developed
Solar cells convert light into energy, but they can be inefficient and vulnerable to the environment, degrading with, ironically, too much light or other factors, including moisture and low temperature. An international research team has developed a new type of solar cell that can both withstand environmental hazards and is 26.7% efficient in power conversion.
They published their results on March 26 in Science.
The researchers, led by Byungha Shin, a professor from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at KAIST, focused on developing a new class of light-absorbing material, called a wide bandgap perovskite. The material has a highly effective crystal structure that can process the power needs, but it can become problematic when exposed to environmental hazards, such as moisture. Researchers have made some progress increasing the efficiency of solar cells based on perovskite, but the material has greater potential than what was previously achieved.
To achieve better performance, Shin and his team built a double layer solar cell, called tandem, in which two or more light absorbers are stacked together to better utilize solar energy. To use perovskite in these tandem devices, the scientists modified the material’s optical property, which allows it to absorb a wider range of solar energy. Without the adjustment, the material is not as useful in achieving high performing tandem solar cells. The modification of the optical property of perovskite, however, comes with a penalty — the material becomes hugely vulnerable to the environment, in particular, to light.
To counteract the wide bandgap perovskite’s delicate nature, the researchers engineered combinations of molecules composing a two-dimensional layer in the perovskite, stabilizing the solar cells.
“We developed a high-quality wide bandgap perovskite material and, in combination with silicon solar cells, achieved world-class perovskite-silicon tandem cells,” Shin said.
The development was only possible due to the engineering method, in which the mixing ratio of the molecules building the two-dimensional layer are carefully controlled. In this case, the perovskite material not only improved efficiency of the resulting solar cell but also gained durability, retaining 80% of its initial power conversion capability even after 1,000 hours of continuous illumination. This is the first time such a high efficiency has been achieved with a wide bandgap perovskite single layer alone, according to Shin.
“Such high-efficiency wide bandgap perovskite is an essential technology for achieving ultra-high efficiency of perovskite-silicon tandem (double layer) solar cells,” Shin said. “The results also show the importance of bandgap matching of upper and lower cells in these tandem solar cells.”
The researchers, having stabilized the wide bandgap perovskite material, are now focused on developing even more efficient tandem solar cells that are expected to have more than 30% of power conversion efficiency, something that no one has achieved yet,
“Our ultimate goal is to develop ultra-high-efficiency tandem solar cells that contribute to the increase of shared solar energy among all energy sources,” Shin said. “We want to contribute to making the planet healthier.”
This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea, the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning, the Ministry of Trade Industry and Energy of Korea, and the U.S. Department of Energy.
Other contributors include Daehan Kim, Jekyung Kim, Passarut Boonmongkolras, Seong Ryul Pae and Minkyu Kim, all of whom affiliated with the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at KAIST. Other authors include Byron W. Larson, Sean P. Dunfield, Chuanxiao Xiao, Jinhui Tong, Fei Zhang, Joseph J. Berry, Kai Zhu and Dong Hoe Kim, all of who are affiliated with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado. Dunfield is also affiliated with the Materials Science and Engineering Program at the University of Colorado; Berry is also affiliated with the Department of Physics and the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute at the University of Colorado Boulder; and Kim is also affiliated with the Department of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials Engineering at Sejong University. Hee Joon Jung and Vinayak Dravid of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Northwestern University; Ik Jae Park, Su Geun Ji and Jin Young Kim of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at Seoul National University; and Seok Beom Kang of the Department of Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials Engineering of Sejong University also contributed.
Image credit: Professor Byungha Shin, KAIST
Image usage restrictions: News organizations may use or redistribute this image, with proper attribution, as part of news coverage of this paper only.
Publication: Kim et al. (2020) “Efficient, stable silicon tandem cells enabled by anion-engineered wide band gap perovskites”. Science. Available online at https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aba3433
Profile:
Byungha Shin
Professor
byungha@kaist.ac.kr
http://energymatlab.kaist.ac.kr/
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
KAIST
Profile:
Daehan Kim
Ph.D. Candidate
zxzx4592@kaist.ac.kr
http://energymatlab.kaist.ac.kr/
Department of Materials Science and Engineering
KAIST
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2020.03.27 View 28193 -
A System Controlling Road Active Noise to Hit the Road
The research team led by Professor Youngjin Park of the Department of Mechanical Engineering has developed a road noise active noise control (RANC) system to be commercialized in partnership with Hyundai Motor Group.
On December 11, Hyundai Motor Group announced the successful development of the RANC system, which significantly reduces the road noise flowing into cars. The carmaker has completed the domestic and American patent applications for the location of sensors and the signal selection method, the core technology of RANC.
RANC is a technology for reducing road noise during driving. This system consists of an acceleration sensor, digital signal processor (the control computer to analyze sound signals), microphone, amplifier, and audio system. To make the system as simple as possible, the audio system utilizes the original audio system embedded in the car instead of a separate system.
The acceleration sensor first calculates the vibration from the road into the car. The location of the sensor is important for accurately identifying the vibration path. The research team was able to find the optimal sensor location through a number of tests.
The System Dynamics and Applied Control Laboratory of Professor Park researched ways to significantly reduce road noise with Hyundai Motor Group for four years from 1993 as a G7 national project and published the results in international journals. In 2002, the researchers published an article titled “Noise Quietens Driving” in Nature, where they announced the first success in reducing road noise in actual cars. The achievement did not lead to commercialization, however, due to the lack of auxiliary technologies at the time, digital amplifiers and DSP for cars for example, and pricing issues.
Since 2013, Professor Park’s research team has participated in one technology transfer and eight university-industry projects. Based on these efforts, the team was able to successfully develop the RANC system with domestic technology in partnership with Hyundai’s NVH Research Lab (Research Fellow, Dr. Gangdeok Lee; Ph.D. in aviation engineering, 1996), Optomech (Founder, Professor Gyeongsu Kim; Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, 1999), ARE (CEO Hyeonseok Kim; Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, 1998), WeAcom, and BurnYoung.
Professor Park’s team led the project by performing theory-based research during the commercialization stage in collaboration with Hyundai Motor Group.
For the commercialization of the RANC system, Hyundai Motor Group is planning to collaborate with the global car audio company Harman to increase the degree of completion and apply the RANC system to the GV 80, the first SUV model of the Genesis brand.
“I am very delighted as an engineer to see the research I worked on from my early days at KAIST be commercialized after 20 years,” noted Professor Park. “I am thrilled to make a contribution to such commercialization with my students in my lab.”
2019.12.27 View 16841 -
KAIST Awarded the IPBC R&D Institution Team of the Year
KAIST was awarded the R&D Institution Team of the Year during the annual IPBC (Intellectual Property Business Congress) Asia 2019 held in Tokyo October 28-30. IPBC is a conference dedicated to IP value creation strategies hosted by IAM Media, a world’s leading IP business media platform.
IPBC Asia 2019 recognized the institutions and businesses that employed innovative IP strategies and management to produce the greatest IP value in 11 categories covering automotive, electronics, healthcare and biotechnology, internet and software, R&D institutions, semiconductors, industrials, mobile and telecommunications, Asia IP deals, Asia teams, and Asia individuals. This year, KAIST was recognized as one of the most active patentees in the Asia-Pacific region by significantly increasing its IP value through licensing and tech transfers.
Associate Vice President Kyung Cheol Choi of the Office of University-Industry Cooperation remarked, “We are so delighted to prove the strong research capacity of KAIST. This will help us accomplish our vision of being a leading university that creates global impact.”
2019.12.04 View 11934 -
KAIST to Transfer Core Tech to Domestic Companies amid Japan's Export Curbs
< Associate Vice President Kyung-Cheol Choi of the Office of University-Industry Cooperation (OUIC) at KAIST >
KAIST will transfer four core technologies related to materials, parts, and equipment to domestic companies to help them combat the latest export curbs triggered by Korea’s removal from Japan’s ‘white list’ of preferential trade partners. In addition, KAIST’s five patented technologies in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and materials and parts will also be transferred to the companies in order to reduce the reliance on Japan and achieve technological independence through the ‘localization’ of key technologies.
KAIST announced these university-industry cooperation promotion plans at the ‘2019 KAIST Core Tech Transfer Day Conference’ held in Seoul on September 17. More than 200 entrepreneurs and investors attended the briefing and on-site consulting sessions delivered by nine KAIST professors who led the development of the technologies.
The four technologies were presented at the conference as those that can replace Japanese technologies subject to the export curbs. They include:
1. ‘Transparent fluorinated polyimide with low thermal expansion’ developed by Professor Sang-Youl Kim of the Department of Chemistry
2. ‘A non-destructive electromagnetic performance testing system’ developed by Professor Jung-Ryul Lee of the Department of Aerospace Engineering
3. ‘A nanotechnology-based electrode material for use in advanced secondary batteries’ developed by Professor Do-Kyung Kim of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering
4. ‘A high-resolution photoresist’ developed by Professor Emeritus Jin-Baek Kim of the Department of Chemistry.
Of particular interest is the non-destructive electromagnetic performance testing system technology developed by Professor Jung-Ryul Lee. This new cost-effective technology enables tests that were impossible to carry out using conventional technologies and yields a cost reduction of more than 50 percent compared to foreign technologies.
By introducing Professor Do-Kyung Kim’s new electrode material technology, the efficiency of electric vehicles can be increased. As this technology uses relatively low-cost sodium ion batteries, industries can prepare for the possible jump from the more expensive lithium batteries currently being used.
Another five patented AI and materials and parts technologies disclosed at the conference include:
1. ‘Enhanced HTTP adaptive streaming with CNN-based super-resolution’ developed by Professor Dong-soo Han of the School of Electrical Engineering
2. ‘Method and apparatus of brain-computer interface design for estimating choice behavior and decision strategy’ developed by Professor Sang-Wan Lee of the Department of Bio and Brain Engineering
3. ‘Eco-friendly fabrication of metal oxide nanoparticles and fabrication of non-toxic polymer sunscreen ingredients by electron irradiation’ developed by Professor Sung-Oh Cho of the Department of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering
4. ‘High-density nanofiber yarn-based coloricmetric gas sensors’ developed by Professor Il-Doo Kim of the Department of Materials Science and Engineering
5. ‘Silicon-pocket energy storage electrode with high energy density and its manufacturing technology’ developed by Professor Jeung-Ku Kang of the Graduate school of EEWS.
The patented nanofiber-based coloricmetric gas sensor technology developed by Professor Il-Doo Kim allows for the diagnosis of diseases by only using the patient’s respiration. Due to its high productivity and processability, it is expected to be applied to various fields in the fast-growing disease diagnosis sensor market, which includes mobile devices and wearable sensors.
Moreover, Professor Dong-soo Han’s patented adaptive streaming technology attracted attention along with the ever-growing Over The Top (OTT) and Video On Demand (VOD) service markets, since it has significant potential for improving the streaming quality of videos and reducing costs for video providers.
Professor Kyung-Cheol Choi, the Associate Vice President of the Office of University-Industry Cooperation (OUIC) at KAIST, said, “KAIST OUIC and KAIST Advisors on Materials and Parts (KAMP) have been working tirelessly to help Korean companies cope with the recent Japanese export restrictions. KAIST’s efforts will enhance the competitiveness and growth of the Korean industry and economy, turning this national crisis into opportunity.”
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2019.09.20 View 9586 -
Early Genome Catastrophes Can Cause Non-Smoking Lung Cancer
Some teenagers harbor catastrophic changes to their genomes that can lead to lung cancer later on in life, even if they never smoke
(Professor Young Seok Ju at the Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering)
Catastrophic rearrangements in the genome occurring as early as childhood and adolescence can lead to the development of lung cancer in later years in non-smokers. This finding, published in Cell, helps explain how some non-smoking-related lung cancers develop.
Researchers at KAIST, Seoul National University and their collaborators confirmed that gene fusions in non-smokers mostly occur early on, sometimes as early as childhood or adolescence, and on average about three decades before cancer is diagnosed. The study showed that these mutant lung cells, harboring oncogenic seeds, remain dormant for several decades until a number of further mutations accumulate sufficiently for progression into cancer. This is the first study to reveal the landscape of genome structural variations in lung adenocarcinoma.
Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide, and lung adenocarcinoma is its most common type. Most lung adenocarcinomas are associated with chronic smoking, but about a fourth develop in non-smokers. Precisely what happens in non-smokers for this cancer to develop is not clearly understood.
Researchers analyzed the genomes of 138 lung adenocarcinoma patients, including smokers and non-smokers, with whole-genome sequencing technologies. They explored DNA damage that induced neoplastic transformation.
Lung adenocarcinomas that originated from chronic smoking, referred to as signature 4-high (S4-high) cancers in the study, showed several distinguishing features compared to smoking-unrelated cancers (S4-low).
People in the S4-high group were largely older, men and had more frequent mutations in a cancer-related gene called KRAS. Cancer genomes in the S4-high group were hypermutated with simple mutational classes, such as the substitution, insertion, or deletion of a single base, the building block of DNA.
But the story was very different in the S4-low group. Generally, mutational profiles in this group were much more silent than the S4-high group. However, all cancer-related gene fusions, which are abnormally activated from the merging of two originally separate genes, were exclusively observed in the S4-low group.
The patterns of genomic structural changes underlying gene fusions suggest that about three in four cases of gene fusions emerged from a single cellular crisis causing massive genomic fragmentation and subsequent imprecise repair in normal lung epithelium.
Most strikingly, these major genomic rearrangements, which led to the development of lung adenocarcinoma, are very likely to be acquired decades before cancer diagnosis. The researchers used genomic archaeology techniques to trace the timing of when the catastrophes took place.
Researchers started this study seven years ago when they discovered the expression of the KIF5B-RET gene fusion in lung adenocarcinoma for the first time. Professor Young-Seok Ju, co-lead author from the Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering at KAIST says, “It is remarkable that oncogenesis can begin by a massive shattering of chromosomes early in life. Our study immediately raises a new question: What induces the mutational catastrophe in our normal lung epithelium.”
Professor Young Tae Kim, co-lead author from Seoul National University says, “We hope this work will help us get one step closer to precision medicine for lung cancer patients.”
The research team plans to further focus on the molecular mechanisms that stimulate complex rearrangements in the body, through screening the genomic structures of fusion genes in other cancer types.
This study was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF), Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), Suh Kyungbae Foundation, the College of Medicine Research Foundations at Seoul National University and others.
Figure.
(Smoking-unrelated oncogenesis of lung cancers by gene fusions)
Publication.
Jake June-Koo Lee, Seongyeol Park et al., Tracing Oncogene Rearrangements in the Mutational History of Lung Adenocarcinoma
Cell 177, June 13 2019, online publication ahead of print at May 30, 2019
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2019.05.013
Profile: Prof Young Seok Ju, MD, PhD
ysju@kaist.ac.kr
http://julab.kaist.ac.kr
Associate Professor
Graduate School of Medical Science and Engineering (GSMSE)
Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)
Daejeon 34141, Korea
Profile: Prof Young Tae Kim, MD, PhD
ytkim@snu.ac.kr
Professor
Seoul National University Cancer Research Institute
Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery
Seoul National University Hospital Seoul 03080, Korea
2019.05.31 View 61511